Can a Scottish MP be Prime Minister?
Since the creation of the Scottish Parliament the West Lothian Question - why should Scottish MPs be able to vote on issues that have been devolved in Scotland and therefore affect only England and Wales - has gone unresolved. A related question is whether MPs representing Scottish constituencies should be able to hold ministerial portfolios that cover only England and Wales. Obviously there is no any legal or constitutional bar to it - the question is whether or not a government would face a backlash from the public for doing so.
There have been occasional rumbling when MPs representing Scottish constituencies have been given ministerial responsibiles on matters that are devolved in Scotland (for example, as Transport Secretary Alistair Darling had responsibility for transport in all the constituencies in England and Wales, but not in his own Edinburgh constituency). The most recent example is John Reid’s appointment as Home Secretary. YouGov’s last poll asked specifically about whether this anomoly bothered people - 45% of people said yes, 49% said no.
However bothered people say they are, at present this is clearly a pretty minor issue in the greater scheme of things. Once Tony Blair stands down as Prime Minister though it becomes far more important, since Gordon Brown’s constituency is in Scotland - will the general public accept an MP for a Scottish constituency as Prime Minister? A new ICM poll for Sunday’s Daily Politics suggests that 52% of the public think that, post-devolution, it would be wrong for a Scottish MP to be Prime Minister.
As one might expect, in Scotland itself there is no such feeling - 75% of people think it would be perfectly okay. In South-East England though, 59% of people think it would be wrong for a Scottish MP to be PM, as do 54% of people in Northern England and 55% of people in Wales.
Filed under: ICM
When Scotland and England united as one nation in 1707 it was done for the mutual benefit of both nations and with the agreement of both parliaments. For reasons only known to themselves, the Scots have always resented the’English’ and have always toyed with the idea of independance. With the restoration of the Scottish parliament and Scotland virtually declaring itself independant, is it any wonder that England has rediscovered its own national identity. Devolution has started the stone rolling. It will only stop with the demise of the United Kingdom.
the reason the macmafia ,will not offer the scots independence is because,the scots would find an awful lot of oil fields would be in english waters,that way they can moan about “the oil”,and milk the english taxpayer.make sense.they talk about bringing in multi national companies by offering generous grants,thet might.but do you think i would let them transport their goods through englands green and pleasant land,no way.we should also limit immigration and in their case i would repatriate them back to scotland and wales.this would increase their populations and give us back our identity and some badly needed housing,without destroying our beautiful countryside.we also need a referendum on europe what with blair and browns dismantling of our border controls,which is used in conjunction with the human rights act to destroy england as an entity.
The demand for the English to have fair representation is gathering pace. If like minded English people out there want to get things moving join the ENGLISH DEMOCRATS PARTY, I have. Look them up at http://www.englishdemocrats.org.uk
I don’t normally enforce the comments policy too harshly round here, but exactly which part of…
“On potentially contentious issues, particuarly politics, please try to keep comments civil, constructive and not party-partisan”
…didn’t you get?